Wordcloud of this week's 100 eKos diary intros:
Welcome to the eKos Earthship, your one-stop-shop for green diaries and series.
Beneath the fold you will find announcements, today's eco-diary roundup, news items, and a climate letter from WarrenS.
You can also follow us on Twitter!
Tonight's editor: patrickz
"Singing for the Planet"
If you haven't heard, WarrenS (whose climate letters we sometimes post in the Earthship) has organized a concert to benefit 350.org to be held on Saturday, June 12 at 7:00 pm. The location will be Emmanuel Church, 15 Newbury Street, Boston, MA. For more details, check out this diary by WarrenS!
Rec the Mothership!
News and Notes
From NASA
Desperate times, desperate measures
No, I'm not talking about nuclear weapons, but another, more natural approach to saving the marshes:
G. Paul Kemp, a former marine science professor at Louisiana State University who works now with the National Audubon Society's coastal initiative, is proposing turning loose the mighty Mississippi River to flush oil out of the river's marshy delta. Kemp said in an interview that he has given his plan to U.S. EPA and has been assured that it is being reviewed at the "highest levels."
"There is no downside," Kemp said. "This is an example of being nimble to deal with a real threat. It has good science behind it."
The plan calls for the Army Corps of Engineers to tweak the massive, adjustable concrete dams about 315 miles upriver from the Gulf of Mexico to divert more water from the nearby Atchafalaya River into the Mississippi River.
Cleaning oil out of sensitive wetlands by traditional means is impossible, so perhaps this idea has some merit.
Biosurfactants to the rescue?
Sick of toxic dispersants? A new strain of bacteria has been discovered that can produce high yields of rhamnolipids, which break down some of the worst compounds in crude oil:
Although the type of biosurfactant called "rhamnolipids" have been used for many years, the newly discovered strain, NY3, stands out for some important reasons. Researchers said in the new study that it has an "extraordinary capacity" to produce rhamnolipids that could help break down oil, and then degrade some of its most serious toxic compounds, the PAHs.
Rhamnolipids are not toxic to microbial flora, human beings and animals, and they are completely biodegradable. These are compelling advantages over their synthetic chemical counterparts made from petroleum. Even at a very low concentration, rhamnolipids could remarkably increase the mobility, solubility and bioavailability of PAHs, and strain NY3 of P. aeruginosa has a strong capability of then degrading and decontaminating the PAHs.
"The real bottleneck to replacing synthetic chemicals with biosurfactants like rhamnolipid is the high cost of production," Yin said. "Most of the strains of P. aeruginosa now being used have a low yield of rhamnolipid. But strain NY3 has been optimized to produce a very high yield of 12 grams per liter, from initial production levels of 20 milligrams per liter."
New Climate Draft Omits Deepest Cuts, References to Copenhagen
by photo by Rita Willaert
As the US Senate continues to balk at passing climate change legislation, international negotiations in Bonn, Germany ended with the release of a blueprint for a treaty. Unsurprisingly, the results were less than impressive:
The new text, issued shortly before midnight (2200 GMT) on Thursday, is meant as a blueprint to guide negotiators to overcome rifts between rich and poor nations when they reconvene at a next session in early August in Bonn.
It outlines a goal of cutting world emissions of greenhouse gases by "at least 50-85 percent from 1990 levels by 2050" and for developed nations to cut emissions by at least 80-95 percent from 1990 levels by mid-century.
The text drops far more radical options, championed by Bolivia in the previous draft, for a cut of at least 95 percent in world emissions by 2050 and for rich nations to cut their emissions by "more than 100 percent by 2040".
There are many critics of the new text:
Bolivian Ambassador Pablo Solon said the new text favors developed countries and incorporated too much of the so-called Copenhagen Accord, a political declaration brokered by President Barack Obama at the troubled U.N. conference in the Danish capital last December.
"This is not a basis for negotiations," he said. "We are in the middle of a very complicated situation."
While U.N. experts and other key players postponed official comments while the proposal was being analyzed, environmental groups were not impressed.
"This text has moved very little," Wendel Trio of Greenpeace told reporters.
"On content, we don't see the progress we need," said Antje von Broock of Friends of the Earth.
At this point I would be impressed with any national or international framework that truly moves us in the right direction. We've put off dealing with this issue for far too long. It's time to act.
US Fish and Wildlife Service Refuses to Protect Northeastern Wolves
photo by Chris Muiden
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is refusing to provide special protection for wolves in five Northeastern states where there has not been a known breeding population for more than 100 years, but where occasional wild wolves, believed to have made it into the region from Canada, are found.
In a decision published Thursday, the Wildlife Service rejected a petition filed by a handful of wolf advocates saying it would not give wolves in New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine or Massachusetts status as a distinct population since they already are protected by the Endangered Species Act.
"The gray wolf is already listed as endangered. The petitioners tried to use a trickle of wolves and wolf-like canids to say that there's an endangered population segment," said Michael Amaral, a senior endangered species biologist with the Wildlife Service based in Concord, N.H. "We can't accept that evidence as substantiating information that we have a threatened or endangered population of animals on the ground here."
I don't know if this was the best approach, but there is something to be said for reintroducing apex predators like wolves to restore balance to ecosystems.
A Letter from WarrenS
WarrenS made a New Year's Resolution to write a letter advocating climate action every day. The result is over one hundred letters to congresspeople, newspapers, President Obama, and more. Warren has even been published in the New York Times and the Boston Globe.
From his blog:
When Harry Reid became Minority leader back when Democrats were in the minority, I knew he was trouble. It’s unbelievable how regularly he manages to snatch policy defeat from the jaws of legislative victory.
And now he’s getting ready to do it again. I sent a copy of this letter to Chuck Schumer, as he appears to be involved in this scam, too.
(facepalm)
Dear Senator Reid,
It's true that the Gulf of Mexico disaster strengthens the case for a new and better energy policy. But replacing the already weakened Kerry-Lieberman bill with the completely powerless American Clean Energy Leadership Act (ACELA) is a terrible mistake.
ACELA is filled with giveaways to polluters. Some analysts believe it will actually increase carbon emissions. This may be a tiny stepping stone towards a new energy policy — but the real lesson of the Gulf catastrophe is that climate change is coming, and it’s coming faster than anyone thought (the climate for sea creatures in the waters off Louisiana has changed pretty drastically in just a few days, hasn’t it?). America needs to take this seriously.
The type of legislative sausage-making that was a source of entertainment in less critical times is no longer an option. To think that further weakening legislation that has already had all its teeth pulled will entice Republican votes is the height of naivete.
If any climate legislation (such as "cap-and-trade") is offered as an amendment to ACELA, it will be defeated, and the narrow window of opportunity opened by the crisis in the Gulf will have been wasted — just like every other window of opportunity that has opened for Democrats in the past few years.
A climate bill must be offered as part of a linked package: climate-and-energy. There can be no compromise on this; I am asking you to look beyond political exigencies and consider the fact that the scientific evidence is overwhelming: the planet is warming, humans cause it, and everyone who is paying attention knows this to be true. What we really need is a carbon tax. If what we can get in a climate bill is cap-and-trade, we’ll start there.
But cap-and-trade is not analogous to a "public option" — something that we good progressives will eventually abandon in order to get a bill passed. We must have robust climate legislation.
If we fail, our descendants will curse us. We owe it to them to get this right. Any bill that has incentives for dirty energy and puts no price on carbon is a failure.
Yours Sincerely,
WarrenS
Check out Warren's diary on his letter-writing technique here!
Eco-series line-up:
(All times Eastern!)
Today's eKos diaries:
Author | Diary | Time | Tags |
---|
palantir | Overnight News Digest -- Sci Tech Thursday | 06/11/10 12:02AM Eastern | Overnight News Digest, OND, group diary, community, science |
Crashing Vor | 134 Years | 06/11/10 07:59AM Eastern | New Orleans, Louisiana, Gulf of Mexico, oil spill, Deepwater Horizon |
BlueDragon | Curing The Gulf: Another Idea and Related Statistics | 06/11/10 12:02PM Eastern | The Gulf, bp, oilpocalypse, ekos, The Sacramento Bee |
Jed Lewison | Report: Deepwater moratorium won't have major impact on oil supply | 06/11/10 12:48PM Eastern | BP, Oil, Energy, eKos |
ericlewis0 | Permeable Cone Stocking 4.0 - Accommodates BP Cap UPDATED x4 | 06/11/10 01:02PM Eastern | Recommended, Oil Corral, #corral, Permeable Cone Stocking, eKos |
Eclectablog | Drill Here, Drill Now economics soundly defeated (w/ graphic) | 06/11/10 01:17PM Eastern | Oilpocalypse, Gulf Oil Spill, Gulf Oil Disaster, Gulf Oil Geyser, Gulf Oil Volcano |
Jed Lewison | Scott B. Palin | 06/11/10 01:30PM Eastern | Scott Brown, eKos |
citisven | Lethal Birdbath | 06/11/10 02:43PM Eastern | Deepwater Horizon, oil spill, ecology, art, poetry |
Jed Lewison | Coast Guard: Capture capacity of 28,000 barrels per day next week, up to 50,000 by mid-July | 06/11/10 04:16PM Eastern | Thad Allen, ekos |
Muskegon Critic | BP May Increase Sludge, Ammonia Dumping in Great Lakes | 06/11/10 04:46PM Eastern | British Petroleum, Lake Michigan, Great Lakes, Oil, environment |
Joan McCarter | GOP celebrates Gulf disaster | 06/11/10 05:00PM Eastern | Gulf Coast Oil spill, environment, Big Oil, Bobby Jindal, RNC |
jamess | Top 10 Reasons Media Denied Access to the Gulf Spill | 06/11/10 05:01PM Eastern | Meta, Snark, Coast Guard, Federal Aviation Administration, FAA |
LaFeminista | Its All Effing Natural Rant. | 06/11/10 05:03PM Eastern | Rant, ekos, environment, BP, Gulf Coast |
calchala | Source: HUGE Federal Gulf Public Works Project Coming | 06/11/10 05:19PM Eastern | Recommended, Obama administration, Oil Spill, Gulf Coast, ekos |
Lenny Flank | Underwater Eutrophication Dead Zones in the Gulf? It's a Possibility | 06/11/10 05:40PM Eastern | gulf, oil spill, deepwater horizon, oil effects, oil plumes |
Richieville | BP Exec Says Studying Oil Leak Makes It Larger | 06/11/10 06:30PM Eastern | snark, satire, humor, oil spill, leak |
Vtdblue | Tipping Point? ACLU "disgusted" by Obama admin.; Labor too? UPDATE | 06/11/10 06:35PM Eastern | Barack Obama, Bill Halter, Blanche Lincoln, eKos, ACLU |
Garrett | Requiring a Relief Well: Let's Write a Bill! | 06/11/10 07:02PM Eastern | Require a Relief Well, eKos |
Yesterday's eKos diaries:
Author | Diary | Time | Tags |
---|
The Book Bear | An attempt to stop the EPA from regulating greenhouse gases | 06/10/10 08:37PM Eastern | Environment, US Federal Government, Congress, Developmental Policy, Virginia |
icebergslim | (((((BP))))) BOO-F*****G HOO...... | 06/10/10 09:25PM Eastern | Recommended, BP, United Kingdom, pensions, stock portfolios |
FishOutofWater | Burning Petroleum - Earth's on Fire, Wind's Next: DK Greenroots | 06/10/10 10:46PM Eastern | ekos, oil, climate change, hurricanes, tropical storms |
Liveblog | BP Catastrophe Liveblog Mothership: # 16 | 06/10/10 12:04AM Eastern | Oilpocalypse, BP, Deepwater Horizon, Gulf of Mexico, LMRP |
Steven D | Breaking: Americans Believe in Global Warming | 06/10/10 08:57AM Eastern | Climate Change, Global Warming, Senator Lisa Murkowski, Clean Air Act, EPA |
Unenergy | Deepwater Chernobyl | 06/10/10 09:40AM Eastern | BP, Gulf Gusher, Gulf of Mexico, Oil, eKos |
Bruce Nilles | Call Your Senators Now to Stop Big Coal, Big Oil in Murkowski Vote | 06/10/10 10:01AM Eastern | eKos, coal, Murkowski, Sierra Club, Clean Air Act |
Phil S 33 | Rolling Stone nails BP & Others on the Gusher | 06/10/10 10:48AM Eastern | BP, Barack Obama, Ken Salazar, Recommended, eKos |
Ellinorianne | 24 Hours to Stop Cancer Causing Pesticide Approval - Act NOW | 06/10/10 12:00PM Eastern | Action, ekos, Environment |
the girl | No more trust for BP on dispersants. | 06/10/10 12:24PM Eastern | Rachel Maddow, EPA, Corexit, Rolling Stone, Edward J. Markey |
Eddie C | Tomorrow will be too late for the Bronx Zoo and New York Aquarium | 06/10/10 12:44PM Eastern | Recommended, Action, Michael Bloomberg, education, photos |
SheKos | SheKos: Mother Earth & BP's Violence Against Her | 06/10/10 01:04PM Eastern | SheKos, BP oil spill, Native Americans, eKos |
ProgressiveSouth | Firm hired to handle BP claims boasts of "reducing payouts" | 06/10/10 02:12PM Eastern | bp, facing south, esis, claims, gulf coast |
Bill McKibben | How the media are missing the real drama of the Oil Spill | 06/10/10 03:18PM Eastern | clean energy, environment, energy, deepwater horizon, deepwater horizon blowout |
jamess | Flow Rate Technical Group ups the Ante for BP | 06/10/10 05:35PM Eastern | Flow Rate Technical Group, BP, Oil Spill, Gulf of Mexico, Press Release |
Jed Lewison | FL: Huge shift in opinion against offshore drilling | 06/10/10 06:40PM Eastern | Florida, Quinnipiac, Energy, eKos |
About eKos
The Idea
This project was inspired by the Earth Day @ DKos Blogathon. In case you missed it, we had 31 participating environmental diaries, all of which were linked to in the Mothership. During the event we had several requests for an eco-mothership diary series in the mould of the Earth Day effort.
The Mission
eKos is all about promoting community eco-diaries. Daily Kos already showcases several series, but sometimes the work of dedicated green diarists pass off the recent diary list hardly noticed. Our goal is to make these diaries more accessible. In the process we hope to build community and bring in a broader audience to the exceptional environmental writing here at DK.
How eKos Works
If you want a diary included in the list, please let us know by leaving a comment. We'll do our best to search out green diaries, but are bound to miss a few. For eKos to live up to it's full potential, eco-diarists should post a link to the Earthship, or place the widget at the end of their diary. This will provide readers with easy access to other recent environmental diaries.
Tag Rules
If you want to help out with tagging, here are a few simple rules to follow:
- If you see an eco-diary or front page story, tag it 'eKos'. and inform the diarist.
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